At 7, singing talent elicits voices of approval

CARROLLTON - Rhema Marvanne has produced a slick music video, appeared on a national talk show and performed across the country - all before her two front teeth fully have emerged.

The 7-year-old gospel singer has a website. She's on Twitter and Facebook and YouTube and MySpace. You can buy her songs on iTunes.

She is getting bombarded with performance requests. She is receiving offers from production companies to record television shows and albums.

Her fans say she is refreshing and inspiring. And, online, they praise her powerful voice:

** "Incredible child. ... God has blessed her in a mighty way. ..."

** "You are just precious!! I could listen to you forever."

** "Oh, lord. ... Sends chills and goose bumps. ... Awesome."

The past year has been a whirlwind for the budding singer, ever since a video of her singing "Amazing Grace" was posted online.

But she doesn't brag about her life in the spotlight. Instead, she thinks about her mother, Wendi, who died in 2008 from ovarian cancer. Mom wrote her own songs. She often sang to Rhema. She inspired her to sing.

"Whenever I sing, I feel like God is smiling and my mother is saying, 'That's my little girl,'" Rhema said. "I feel like she's holding me. And God is taking good care of my mother."

Teton Voraritskul thinks his daughter is drawn to singing because it brings her peace.

"Singing is something that gives her a connection between her and her mom," he said. "It's a way for her to communicate with her mom."

One day last summer, Voraritskul wanted to see if Rhema could sing like her mom. So he taught her "Amazing Grace."

"I wanted to see how much of her mom was left in her," he said.

But the first song didn't go that well, he said. While Rhema likes to sing, she didn't want to learn songs.

"She wants to create abstract art and do her own thing," Voraritskul said. "The challenge was to get her to recognize or realize that there is value in learning a song."

He had her sing casually for friends and family. Their faces lit up.

"The pivotal moment was when she saw it in someone's face," he said. "That sparked that little light in her."

Last fall, Voraritskul posted her version of "Amazing Grace" on YouTube. At first, the hits slowly trickled in. Eventually, without any publicity, the song received a few hundred thousand views.

Then the e-mails started pouring in from admirers. By December, a video of Rhema singing "O Holy Night" went online. It's received more than 1 million views.

Her videos led to an appearance on Maury Povich's TV show. She also has appeared on religious programs, as well as on a show in South Korea. Recently, movie crews filmed her singing for an upcoming movie with Gerard Butler. And she'll sing the national anthem at a Dallas Cowboys game.

Voraritskul said Rhema has received offers to do TV shows and record albums. For now, he is holding off on signing any deals. He doesn't want those opportunities to change his daughter's wholesome image.

But the offers are tempting, he admitted.

"We have to stay focused," he said. "What we want to show every little girl is that being famous is not about you. It's about what you can do."

Voraritskul said he isn't pressuring his daughter. She just loves to perform, he said.

"Before she sings, she's a little horse in a chute," he said. "She's so excited. 'Is it my turn? Is it my turn?'"

Rhema enjoys the attention but said that isn't the reason for performing.

"It's not about being famous," she said. "It's about spreading the Gospel."

One recent afternoon, Rhema was smiling as she twirled around the house, racing from room to room. She pranced to her bedroom, picking up her stuffed animals and pointing to her American Girl doll. She showed off a small box of her baby teeth and seashells.

She put on a black cowboy hat.

"Howdy, pardner," she said in a Texas drawl.

She ran upstairs and looked at a painting of three giraffes. The tall one is her father, the middle one is her mother and the little one is her, she said.

"I miss singing with her," Rhema said. "We used to dance together all the time."

Minutes later, she was back downstairs. She put on her rollerblades and skated around the house. She stopped to give her Chihuahua mix, Mojo, a kiss.

"I am a silly girl and a good singer, for some reason," Rhema said.

She constantly is singing songs from "High School Musical."

"What time is it? Summertime. It's our vacation."

Seconds later, she closed her eyes and started singing a Christmas classic. She is recording a Christmas album to be released this fall.

"Silent night, holy night, all is calm."

She stopped.

"A little more," her dad said. "I like it."

"Holy infant, so tender and mild ..."

Rhema is aiming high: She would like to appear on "Oprah" and sing at the Super Bowl in Arlington.

"We're hoping for the Super Bowl," Voraritskul said. "A Dallas girl should be singing at the Super Bowl."

Rhema said that, in between performing, she enjoys playing with her friends and toys.

"I like to be a 7-year-old," she said.

That also includes thinking about what she wants to do when she gets older. At one point, she wanted to deliver babies.

"I love holding babies," she said. "They're so cute and adorable."

But then she realized she didn't want to "pull them out" of their mothers.

So she is thinking about her other options.

"Maybe when I grow up," she said, "I'll be a singer."

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